During the lifetime of a patient, it may be necessary to perform a joint replacement procedure on the patient as a result of, for example, disease or trauma. The joint replacement procedure may involve the use of a prosthesis which is implanted into one of the patient's bones. In the case of a hip replacement procedure, a femoral prosthesis is implanted into the patient's femur. Such a femoral prosthesis typically includes a spherically-shaped head which bears against the patient's acetabulum, along with an elongated intramedullary stem which is utilized to secure the femoral component to the patient's femur. To secure the prosthesis to the patient's femur, the intramedullary canal of the patient's femur is first surgically prepared (e.g. reamed and/or broached) such that the intramedullary stem of the femoral prosthesis may be subsequently implanted therein.
During performance of such a hip replacement procedure, it is generally necessary to provide the surgeon with a certain degree of flexibility in the selection of a prosthesis. In particular, the anatomy of the bone into which the prosthesis is to be implanted may vary somewhat from patient to patient. For example, a given patient's femur may be relatively long or relatively short thereby requiring use of a femoral prosthesis which includes a stem that is relatively long or short, respectively. Moreover, in certain cases, such as when use of a relatively long stem length is required, the stem must also be bowed in order to conform to the anatomy of the patient's femur.
As a result, modular prostheses have been designed. As its name implies, a modular prosthesis is constructed in modular form so the individual components of the prosthesis can be selected to fit the needs of a given patient's anatomy. For example, a typical modular prosthesis includes a proximal body component that can be assembled to any one of numerous distal stem components. Such a design allows the distal stem component to be selected and thereafter implanted in the patient's bone in a position which conforms to the patient's anatomy while also allowing for a degree of independent positioning of the proximal body component relative to the patient's acetabulum.
From time-to-time, a revision hip surgery may need to be performed on a patient. In such a revision hip surgery, the previously implanted hip prosthesis is surgically removed and a replacement hip prosthesis is implanted in the patient's femur.